Conducting Various Actions Indicated by a Financial Card

ABSTRACT

An indicator associated with a financial card to tender payment for a transaction is received from a point of sale device. A storage device stores independent sets of information associated with the financial card. The sets of information indicate different actions to be performed and settings corresponding to the actions. The indicator received from the point of sale device is associated with one of the independent sets of information. The actions associated with the received indicator are performed in accordance with the corresponding settings in response to conducting a transaction with the financial card.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority to U.S. Nonprovisionalapplication Ser. No. 13/569,588, filed 8 Aug. 2012 and entitled“Conducting Various Actions Indicated by a Financial Card,” thedisclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The present invention embodiments relate to financial transactions, andmore specifically, to conducting various actions indicated by afinancial card in response to a financial transaction. These actions mayinclude providing information regarding financial transactions(purchases of goods and/or services) by a financial card (credit ordebit card) to a public or semi-public forum, such as a social mediaenvironment.

2. Discussion of the Related Art

Posting information regarding transactions made by a financial card hasbeen developed. However, currently prevailing technology is limited by anumber of different factors. For example, some systems require thirdparty access to consumer financial card records, which are analyzed andpertinent information may be subsequently posted. The delay between theanalysis of the transaction records and the posting of the transactionsmay adversely affect time critical marketing strategies. Other systemshave no point of sale (POS) mechanism for deciding what is to be posted.Moreover, existing approaches fail to leverage rebates and otherincentives in exchange for posts resulting in lackluster adoption ofsystems that automatically post transactions.

Providing POS mechanisms to accommodate more interchange of informationand to allow card holders to enter or provide additional informationduring a transaction may be achieved, but at the cost of hardwarereplacement and/or software upgrades to implement suitable protocols atthe point of sale.

BRIEF SUMMARY

According to one embodiment of the present invention, an indicatorassociated with a financial card to tender payment for a transaction isreceived from a point of sale device. A storage device storesindependent sets of information associated with the financial card. Thesets of information indicate different actions to be performed andsettings corresponding to the actions. The indicator received from thepoint of sale device is associated with one of the independent sets ofinformation. The actions associated with the received indicator areperformed in accordance with the corresponding settings in response toconducting a transaction with the financial card.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a distributed processingenvironment by which the present invention may be embodied.

FIGS. 2A-2B are illustrations of an example financial card embodimentsuitable to embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a procedural flowchart of a financial transaction with socialmedia posting by which the present invention may be embodied.

FIG. 4 is an illustration of a user control by which user-defined socialmedia actions may be configured in embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is another illustration of a user control by which user-definedsocial media actions may be configured in embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 6 is a procedural flow chart of a rebate transaction in accordancewith embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a procedural flowchart of a geo-tagged financial transactionwith social media posting by which the present invention may beembodied.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Present invention embodiments provide a financial card that indicatesthe actions to perform in response to a financial transaction. Theactions may include posting information pertaining to the financialtransaction to a social media site and/or associating certaincategorization, metadata, tags or markings with the transaction. Thus,present invention embodiments provide point of sale social mediaintegration to allow consumers to make point of sale decisions. Theseactivities are achieved using existing point of sale protocols,fundamental interchange and financial clearing mechanisms.

The present inventive concept is best described through certainembodiments thereof, which are described in detail herein with referenceto the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer tolike features throughout. It is to be understood that the terminvention, when used herein, is intended to connote the inventiveconcept underlying the embodiments described below and not merely theembodiments themselves. It is to be understood further that the generalinventive concept is not limited to the illustrative embodimentsdescribed below and the following descriptions should be read in suchlight.

Additionally, the word exemplary, when used herein, is intended to mean,“serving as an example, instance or illustration.” Any embodiment ofconstruction, process, design, technique, etc., designated herein asexemplary is not necessarily to be construed as preferred oradvantageous over other such embodiments. Particular quality or fitnessof the examples indicated herein as exemplary is neither intended norshould be inferred.

Other terminology used herein is for the purpose of describingparticular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of theinvention. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” areintended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearlyindicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms“comprises”, “comprising”, “includes”, “including”, “has”, “have”,“having”, “with” and the like, when used in this specification, specifythe presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of oneor more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements,components, and/or groups thereof.

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a distributed processing system100 by which the present invention may be embodied. Processing system100 includes several interoperating processing units, to be describedseparately below, comprising network interfaces 103 a-103 g,representatively referred to herein as network interface(s) 103,processors 105 a-105 g, representatively referred to herein asprocessor(s) 105, and memories 107 a-107 g, representatively referred toherein as memory or memories 107. Network interfaces 103 implement thecommunication mechanisms by which the processing units communicate withone another over a communication network 110. Network 110 may beimplemented by any number of any suitable communications mechanisms andmedia, e.g., wide area network (WAN), local area network (LAN),Internet, Intranet, etc.

Processors 105 may implement data processing functionality of therespective processing units as well as control functions by which theindividual processing units can both autonomously operate andinteroperate with other processing units. For example, processors 105may be microprocessors executing processor instructions stored in memory107 to which it is coupled. In addition to processor instructions,memory 107 may also store data on which data processing operations areperformed. It is to be understood that network interfaces 103,processors 105 and memories 107 may be constructed in a wide variety offixed and programmable circuitry; the present invention is not limitedto any particular implementation thereof. The ordinarily skilled artisanwill readily recognize the roles of each of these elements upon reviewof this disclosure.

The present invention may utilize an electronic payment infrastructure,such as that by which payment for goods and services are made with afinancial card, such as credit cards, debit cards, gift cards, and thelike. As such, processing system 100 may include a point-of-sale (POS)terminal 120 at which payment by a user 101 is initiated. To do so, afinancial card issued to user 101 may incorporate computer readablemedia, such as, for example, a magnetic stripe, radio-frequencyidentification (RFID) or near field communication (NFC) devices, thatcan be read by a suitable device, such as, for example, magnetic stripeor smart card reader 122 in POS terminal 120. POS terminal 120 mayfurther include a data entry pad 124, by which, if prompted, a consumer101 enters a personal identification number (PIN).

POS terminal 120 may be communicatively coupled to a merchant bankserver 140 via network 110, which carries out financial transactions onbehalf of the merchant using POS terminal 120. Card issuer bank server160 may also be communicatively coupled to network 110 to carry outfinancial transactions on behalf of the consumer per cardholderagreements established between consumer 101 and the card issuing bank.

Overlapping with the payment infrastructure in present inventionembodiments is one or more social content distribution systems, such asimplemented by, for example, TWITTER, FACEBOOK, LINKEDIN, etc.Embodiments of the present invention enable consumer 101 to associatedistributing transaction information to social media sites,representatively illustrated at social media server 170, using featuresassociated with the consumer's financial card account, e.g., debit cardor credit card that is assigned a PIN for use at POS terminals. Incertain implementations, merchants can pay extra interchange or add-onfees to the merchant's bank and/or the card issuer bank, and have adiscount passed on to the consumer as an incentive, e.g., a discount,reward, rebate, etc., to post to social media sites about a realpurchase made. The card issuer may take a percentage of that discount aswell or charge a fee for offering such service to retailers. Thesediscounts may be made available when the merchant and card issuer usethe same bank, or the card issuing bank may offer such a service foradditional interchange fees billed to the merchant bank. As such,merchant bank server 140 may have stored thereon program participationdata that tracks and facilitates incentive programs cooperatively withthe card issuing bank's mechanisms for such.

Present invention embodiments allow consumer 101 to assign unique PINsto a financial card or, in the case of a credit card not protected by aPIN for purchases, a card may have different magnetic stripes, one onseparate edges of the card. Such a financial card is illustrated inFIGS. 2A-2B, collectively referred to herein as FIG. 2. FIG. 2A is anillustration of an obverse side 210 of a financial card 200 and FIG. 2Bis an illustration of a reverse side 250 of the financial card 200. Asis typical with such financial cards, financial card 200 may includecustomer information 214, such as customer name and card number, issuingbank information 216, such as a bank logo, and a signature strip 230 inwhich the consumer's signature is recorded for identity verificationpurposes. Financial card 200 may include one or more magnetic stripes212 a-212 d, representatively referred to herein as stripes 212. Eachstripe 212 may have stored thereon data by which a financial transactionmay be carried out and additional information associated with customeroptions and preferences regarding disclosure of financial transactionsto third parties, such as a social website posting. As illustrated inFIG. 2, card 200 includes four (4) stripes 212 and, accordingly, acustomer can configure four (4) sets of settings as to how, where andwhat to disclose to such third parties. For ease of distinguishingstripes 212 from one another, card 200 may include small write-in fields222 a-222 d, by which the consumer can label individual stripes 212.Card 200 may also include four (4) different raised shapes, such astriangle 220 a, cross 220 b, square 220 c and circle 220 d by which avisually impaired customer can distinguish the edges of the card. Asillustrated in FIG. 2, one set of shapes, e.g., triangle 220 a and cross220 b, are raised on one side 210 and the remaining set of shapes, e.g.,square 220 c and circle 220 d, are raised on the opposite side 250.

Present invention embodiments in which a single stripe 212 is disposedon card 200 or when a single PIN is assigned to a card, a financialtransaction may be carried out in conventional fashion. In embodimentswhere another PIN or stripe 212 is associated with card 200,user-selected actions can be carried out when the PIN or stripe 212 isused to initiate the transaction. For example, one such action allowsuser-selected details regarding the transaction to be publicly orsemi-publically disclosed, such as by a posting to one or more selectedsocial sites. By using a special PIN or stripe 212 on an edge of card200, the consumer notifies their social community that they are, forexample, having coffee in a particular coffee shop and where that coffeeshop is located. Present invention embodiments afford great latitude inconfiguring different settings for how to handle particular transactionsthrough extra PINs assigned to financial card 200 or by additionalstripes 212 disposed on financial card 200. For example, other actionsmay include marking whether a transaction as reimbursable, making otherreimbursement classifications at the point of sale, or marking thetransactions with different accounting codes, such as when corporatecredit cards allow charging one department vs. another. Consumers decideat the point of sale what action associated with a given transactionwill be performed. It is to be understood that while the exampleembodiments described herein are presented in a social media contextwith posting transaction details as a basic action, the ordinarilyskilled artisan will recognize numerous actions that can be performedand numerous other contexts in which such actions can be performed uponreview of this disclosure

Present invention embodiments allow a card holder to authorize sharingits social media account information, as might be stored in userdatabase 172, with merchants. Such may be configurable by way of thePINs/stripes associated with financial card 200. Merchants may purchaseservices from, for example, the card issuer, that provide access toconsumer social media information. Merchants may optionally offerdiscounts to the consumer for permitting such access. These discountscan be offered or advertised at the point of sale to encourage the cardholder to share their basic social media information through thetransaction. Provided the merchant has registered for this service withthe card issuer, and the card holder has likewise authorized the sharingthrough the use of settings associated with one or more of their PINs orstripes 212, the merchant receives basic social media accountinformation about the card holder and may have access to web reportsthat make use of this information. For its part, the card issuer mayautomatically credit the card holder with any applicable discounts setup by the merchant, and may charge an additional interchange fee, or inthe case the merchant and card issuer bank are the same, an add-on fee,on the transaction in addition to the cost of the consumer discountitself.

Returning to FIG. 1, card issuer bank server 160 may have stored in itsmemory 107 customer data 162, such as customer name and address, accountnumber, account balance and other financial and personal data forcarrying out purchases and other financial transactions, billing, etc.Card issuer bank server 160 may also store card configuration data 166that contains information regarding each customer's financial card. Suchinformation may include PIN data and what information is recorded oneach stripe 212, such as an identifier of the stripe that can beassociated to a particular action when the stripe is swiped in cardreader 122. Action server data 164 on card issuer bank server 160 mayinclude information regarding action server 150, which facilitates theactions specified by the customer, as will be discussed below. Actionserver data 164 may include a network address of action server 150 aswell as user controls, such as Web pages presented through userinterface 165, by which user-specified actions may be configured. Thecard issuer may also track transactions that have been posted to socialmedia sites. Such information and settings may be made available to cardholders through user interface 165, which may implement a Web server,and may be stored in customer database 162.

Action server 150 facilitates the actions performed in response tofinancial card related input, such as a swipe in card reader 122 and/orPIN input on entry pad 124. In certain embodiments, action server 150may be a component of the card issuer bank server 160. Action serverdata 164 in memory 107 f of card issuer bank server 160 may include databy which communications with action server 150 can be carried out, suchas a network address and protocol information. In other embodiments,action server 150 may be operated and controlled by a third partyservice, referred to herein as an action service, and, when so embodied,may be accessible by action service account holders through userinterface 155. Action server 150 may have stored in memory 107 d socialmedia data that may include network addresses of one or more socialmedia servers 170 and message templates for formatting posts fordifferent social media sites. Additionally, memory 107 d may include auser database 154 that contains user information, such as social mediaaccount data.

FIG. 3 illustrates a social media disclosure method 300 by which thepresent invention may be embodied. In operation 305, a transaction isinitiated by POS terminal 120 requesting data from card 200, which isprovided to POS terminal 120 in operation 310, such as by swiping card200 in card reader 122. In operation 315, POS terminal 120 may request aPIN from consumer 101, which is provided to POS terminal 120 by consumer101 in operation 320, such as through entry pad 124. That is, consumer101 enters the PIN associated with the type of action to be performed.Alternatively or additionally, consumer 101 may swipe a particular edgeof card 200 on which a magnetic stripe 212 is disposed corresponding tothe action that is to be performed. Once in possession of a PIN orstripe information, POS terminal 120 sends a suitably formattedtransaction authorization request to merchant bank server 140 inoperation 325. Merchant bank server 140 forwards the authorizationrequest in card issuer bank server 160, which consults customer data 162to determine, among other things, whether a valid PIN has been enteredor whether the authorization request is valid and whether sufficientfunds are available to complete the transaction. The results of suchdetermination, i.e., whether the transaction has been authorized ordenied, is provided from card issuer bank server 160 to merchant bankserver 140 in operation 365 and then to POS terminal 120 in operation370.

In addition to the previously described financial transaction, adisclosure action may be performed concurrently. In operation 335, thetype of transaction and the corresponding PIN used for authorization oran identifier thereof are provided to action server 150. Upon receipt ofsuch information, action server 150 may request the customer preferencesassociated with the PIN and obtain the customer preferences in operation345. In operation 350, a request for other information, such asinformation regarding the merchant at which the transaction wasperformed, is initiated. The merchant information may be obtained inoperation 355. In operation 360, all pertinent information gathered inoperations 340-355 are formatted into a suitable message and transmittedto the appropriate third party system, such as social media server 170,where the transaction information is posted in accordance with userpreferences.

In certain embodiments, such as where integrated circuit carrying smartcards are used, transaction protocols allow PINs to be verified at POSterminal 120 without requiring PIN verification by card issuer bankserver 160. Memory on the card (not illustrated) may include securityinformation, such as digital certificate data, by which the user'sidentity can be verified at POS terminal 120. When so embodied, thetransaction protocol may send a string of text generated by POS terminal120 from information on the smart card chip to card issuer bank server160 or action server 150. Such a string can include not only informationfor the card issuing bank to confirm the transaction, but may alsocontain an identifier associated with the PIN used, while excluding theactual PIN for security reasons. For example, the authorization requestmay include a text string such as, for example, “User entered PIN #1”,instead of, “User entered 1234 as PIN”. Here, the integrated circuit inthe card is configured with knowledge that 1234 is PIN #1, which isverified at POS terminal 120, and card issuer bank server 160 or actionserver 150 stores an association with the identifier of PIN #1 with acertain set of actions, which is performed without requiring thevalidation of the actual PIN itself.

FIG. 4 is an illustration of a user control in the form of a Web page400, which may also be implemented by a mobile application interface,that affords user control over information distribution preferences. Webpage 400 includes one or more action sets 410 by which a cardholder canconfigure responses to activities at POS terminal 120. The card holdermay link social media accounts, illustrated at linked accounts control430, with actions or groups of actions assigned to a certain PIN or oneof card stripes 212. Web page 400 and other user controls may be aseparate user interface controlled by action server 150, or may beintegrated into the card issuer bank server account managementfacilities communicating with action server 150 through a programmaticservice interface. Alternatively or additionally, the user interface maybe rendered by the action service, such as through user interface 155,and may be included dynamically into the card issuing bank's Websitecontrols.

Action Sets control 410 lists actions that have been previouslyconfigured by the user to distribute transaction information. Newactions may be created by activation of New Action control 415 andexisting actions may be renamed, by activation of Rename control 420,removed by activation of Remove control 422 and edited by activation ofSet Actions control 424. PINs may be reset by activation of Reset PIN #control 426 and assignment of actions to different magnetic stripes 212may be changed by Stripe control 428.

A user may add to the list of Linked Accounts by actuating Link NewAccount control 434, which may instantiate a data entry control (notillustrated) by which social media account information, e.g., username,password, Uniform Resource Locaters, Internet Protocol addresses, etc.may be provided. Linked social media accounts may then authorized byactivating Authorize control 432, which allows postings to be made tothe account in accordance with user preferences.

FIG. 5 illustrates another user interface control in the form of a Webpage 500 by which actions are configured. In the example of FIG. 5, theSet Actions control 424 of the My Favs action set illustrated in FIG. 4has been activated to instantiate an action configuration control 510.Action configuration control 510 may include a control 520 by which auser can establish how transaction information is disseminated, acontrol 525 by which a user can establish what information is publishedand a control 530 by which the user can specify the community to whichthe information is published. Each control 520, 525 and 530 may, uponactivation, instantiate an option control 535 listing a number ofoptions available for the corresponding field. The ordinarily skilledartisan will recognize that, although only a few options are illustratedin FIG. 5, numerous options can be implemented in embodiments of thepresent invention without departing from in spirit and intended scopethereof.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of a process 600 by which consumer credit isissued as a result of posting to the social media account. Process 600may be performed either immediately following the transaction process,e.g., process 300 illustrated in FIG. 3, or after some time has passedand action server 150 has determined from the consumer's social mediaaccount that the original post is still published. As illustrated inFIG. 6, action server 150 determines in operation 610 whether themerchant has an account and has set up promotions. A promotion allowsthe merchant to designate refunds or other promotional consideration forthe user's posting to a social media account. For example, the merchantmay designate that a consumer gets 5% back for posting about atransaction or may designate that every 10th posted transaction up to acertain amount is free. A promotion for which the consumer may bequalified may be obtained in operation 612. Upon calculating any creditsto the consumer, action server 150 notifies the card issuing bank server160, in operation 614, an amount to which the consumer is entitled andsends a rebate request or the like to the merchant bank server 140 inoperation 616. The merchant bank server 140 may then issue a credit orcoordinate a charge or chargeback to the merchant. In certainembodiments, the merchant may configure an account with the actionservice, and the rebates may actually be a new charge to the merchant ormay be a chargeback against the original transaction. The card issuingbank then debits the consumer credit balance by an appropriate amount.It is to be understood that the charge or chargeback to the merchantneed not equal the debit amount. The card issuing bank may effectivelycharge the merchant by issuing a debit less than the credit amount, inaccordance with prior agreements set up through the action service.

Referring once again to FIG. 1, there is illustrated that user 101 maybe in possession of a mobile device 130, such as a smartphone, mobilecomputer, etc. Mobile device 130 may include a mobile network interface132 by which communications may be conducted over a wirelesscommunication network, such as a cellular communication network (notillustrated). The cellular network may be communicatively coupled tonetwork 110, such as by a suitable gateway or the like. Mobile device130 may implement a user interface 136 through which consumer 101operates mobile device 130, communicates over network 110 and interactswith applications, the code for which may be stored as applicationprocessor instructions 138 in memory 107 b. Additionally, mobile device130 may include a location identification device 134, such as a globalpositioning system (GPS) receiver, by which the location of mobiledevice 130 and, presumably that of consumer 101, may be ascertained.When so embodied, a mobile application 138 executing on mobile device130 may allow the incorporation of location data provided by location IDdevice 134 into the social media stream. FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of howsuch location data may be incorporated, where operations 705-745 and750-770 may be carried out in a manner similar to the correspondingoperations illustrated and described with reference to FIG. 3. Presentinvention embodiments may allow merchants to register their locationwith card issuer bank server 160 and/or action server 150 for theadditional benefit of social media posts being geo-tagged, i.e.,including location specific data. In operation 770 action server 150 mayquery mobile device 130 for location data and, in operation 775, mobileapplication 138 responds with the device location to card issuer bankserver 160. The card holder may set up zero or more of their specialPINs and/or stripes to make use of the geo-tagging service. For example,only when one of the preset PINs or stripes configured for geo-taggingand such PIN or stripe is selected during the transaction does the cardissuer request the device location. Transactions conducted using otherPINs/stripes do not initiate a push notification to the device. Arelated mechanism may also be used to prevent fraud at brick and mortarmerchants by verifying that the physical location of mobile device 140is in close proximity to location at which the transaction is conducted.

The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of allmeans or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended toinclude any structure, material, or act for performing the function incombination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. Thedescription of the present invention has been presented for purposes ofillustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive orlimited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications andvariations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the artwithout departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Theembodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the invention and the practical application, and to enableothers of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention forvarious embodiments with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the presentinvention may be embodied as a system, method or computer programproduct. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention may take the formof an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment(including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or anembodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may allgenerally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.”Furthermore, aspects of the present invention may take the form of acomputer program product embodied in one or more computer readablemedium(s) having computer readable program code embodied thereon.

Any combination of one or more computer readable medium(s) may beutilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signalmedium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readablestorage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic,magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system,apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. Morespecific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readablestorage medium would include the following: an electrical connectionhaving one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, arandom access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber,a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storagedevice, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. In the context of this document, a computer readable storagemedium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a programfor use by or in connection with an instruction execution system,apparatus, or device.

A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signalwith computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, inbaseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may takeany of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to,electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. Acomputer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium thatis not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate,propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with aninstruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmittedusing any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless,wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination ofthe foregoing.

Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of thepresent invention may be written in any combination of one or moreprogramming languages, including an object oriented programming languagesuch as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional proceduralprogramming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similarprogramming languages. The program code may execute entirely on theuser's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alonesoftware package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remotecomputer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latterscenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computerthrough any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or awide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an externalcomputer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet ServiceProvider).

Aspects of the present invention are described with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer program instructions. These computer program instructions maybe provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, specialpurpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus toproduce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via theprocessor of the computer or other programmable data processingapparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified inthe flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computerreadable medium that can direct a computer, other programmable dataprocessing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readablemedium produce an article of manufacture including instructions whichimplement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer,other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to causea series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, otherprogrammable apparatus or other devices to produce a computerimplemented process such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer or other programmable apparatus provide processes forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof code, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be notedthat, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in theblock may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, twoblocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantiallyconcurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverseorder, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be notedthat each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, andcombinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchartillustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-basedsystems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations ofspecial purpose hardware and computer instructions.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method of performingdesired actions in response to conducting a transaction comprising:receiving from a point of sale device an indicator associated with afinancial card to tender payment for a transaction, wherein thefinancial card is associated with a plurality of independent sets ofinformation each indicating different actions to be performed andcorresponding settings, and wherein the received indicator is associatedwith one of the independent sets of information; and performing theactions associated with the received indicator in accordance with thecorresponding settings.
 2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,wherein the actions associated with the received indicator compriseautomatically posting to a social media network and the settingscomprise settings for the social media network, and wherein performingthe actions associated with the received indicator comprises: postinginformation associated with the transaction automatically to the socialmedia network in accordance with the settings to inform selectedentities within the social media network of the occurrence of thetransaction.
 3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein thefinancial card comprises a plurality of storage media each associatedwith a respective independent set of information for performance ofdifferent actions, and receiving the indicator comprises: retrievingfrom an appropriate one of the storage media the indicator associatedwith the set of information corresponding to desired actions.
 4. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein the storage mediacomprise magnetic strips.
 5. The computer-implemented method of claim 3,wherein the storage media comprise an electronic memory circuit.
 6. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the financial card isassociated with a plurality of indicators each comprising a personalidentification number and associated with a respective independent setof information for performance of different actions, and receiving theindicator comprises: receiving an appropriate personal identificationnumber associated with the set of information corresponding to desiredactions.
 7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein theindicator comprises an account number and personal identification numberto enable payment for the transaction in accordance with a protocolutilized by the point of sale device.
 8. The computer-implemented methodof claim 1, wherein the indicator comprises an identifier of a personalidentification number that is selected at the point of sale device froma plurality of personal identification numbers, the identifier of eachof the personal identification numbers excluding the personalidentification number.